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One more passing thought with regards to Hermione: while she has softened to breaking the rules since becoming friends with Ron and Harry a month ago at Halloween, she still has a tendency to think she’s right all the time. Hagrid insists that Snape wouldn’t jinx Harry to which Hermione, rather proudly declares: “I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. I’ve read all about them!”
Well, if all you’ve ever done is read about a jinx then no, you may not know one when you see one, especially if your only telltale sign is not blinking. Lots of things require not blinking. But her insistence is that it must be right because she learned it. It speaks to her naive nature at so young an age: reading it in a book, somehow makes you wiser and more competent. Which, on some level is true, but book learning is not everything. I could read an anatomy book cover to cover, but you wouldn’t want me to perform surgery on you.
It’s also ironic because this “I read it in a book” line is also the lie she tells from the previous chapter.
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Excellent work, Jo!
Can we take a second and appreciate Lee Jordan’s commentary? Always did like him.
Teachers and authority figures are supposed to guide, mold, and teach the students. Rules are created for a reason.
And there’s something extra shocking about it being a teacher, not just an adult. Adults we allow to be more infallible, but teachers we hold to a higher standard. HP, over the course of seven books, does a nice job of constantly breaking down, surprising, and occasionally upholding our teacher standards.
Someone is jinxing Harry’s broom and it appears as if Snape is the culprit
To an extent I agree, but this goes back to a point I keep making. One of the major themes in this book is that things are not as they appear. Hermione sees what she expects to see. Hermione is already somewhat prejudiced against Snape because of his nasty teaching manner and because of Harry and Ron’s suspicions that they openly discuss after Harry finds Snape and Flich. Hermione doesn’t even scan the rest of the audience to see what is going on: she jumps right to Snape.
And what does she see? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. No really: “Snape wasn’t blinking at all” and “muttering nonstop under his breath” is how she and Ron describe it. But if a student several miles off the ground is bucking around like mad, everyone is fixated on it. Everyone is spellbound. Moreover there is no way to know what Snape is saying. He could be exclaiming about Harry’s situation. He could be yelling for someone’s attention or talking to the person next to him.
Because Hermione is expecting a jinx–largely due to what Hagrid says–and because Hermione is expecting it to be Snape because he fits the bill of “black hat” she instantly jumps to Snape jinxing the broom. It’s called confirmation bias: the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs or hypotheses while giving disproportionately less attention to information that contradicts it.
The other half of this is that she misses a key ingredient: knocking headfirst into Quirrell causes the broom to stop bucking long enough for Harry to climb back on because the entire affair–Quirrell, Snape, Hary on broom, takes only a minute.
1. What do you think would happen if Harry, Ron and Hermione had approached Professor Dumbledore with their suspicions at this time?
He would have told them that they had over active imaginations and that Professor Snape is a teacher of Hogwarts and Dumbledore trusts him. Of course, this would first involve Dumbledore being present in this narrative at all. (Strangely absent wise old wizard is strangely absent)
2. What do Hermione’s actions at the Quidditch game reveal about her character?
Going back to the sorting hat, it does show that Hermione is brave and protective and concerned with justice. She does set a professor aflame, after all. That takes some guts. We are also shown again how smart she is–from the first fire to the charm on the paint to the second fire–it is emphasized time and time again that Hermione is smart. BUT, as I pointed out above, she does jump to conclusions based on notions already held, like that Snape is the big bad.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Okay, when is the new chick supposed to be writing an episode?? Jane is apparently 507 (unless they are tag teaming that one)
Also, fun title.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Oh good. About time we heard that Bobby was back on set!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"-The missing year flashback. I want to know why Regina continued to dislike Robin! Or was it fake so that everyone else wouldn’t suspect that the two were an item?? -How Tink ended up in NL -More of Tink and Hook’s relationship
Would have been strange to see that in the Wonderland show…lol (check your subfourm, this is the OUATinWL forum)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Epically sized? I wonder what she means by that? Maybe a 2 hour special like Smash the Mirror was?
Probably. If they want to end on Mother’s Day, as is tradition, then they need two 2-hour blocks. The obvious 521/522 and then another one. Matt and I had thought maybe the 100th but having it be the midseason of 5A would also make sense.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"A three legged stool will always be stable on an uneven surface. Harry, Ron and Hermione are that three legged stool. Each has their job and purpose. You take one away and it all falls over. So for the story to go forward and succeed all three were needed for the tasks ahead
I agree emphatically with this statement.
Can I pick the position Hermione played? The supporter in the stands who cheers as the others fly around? I’m deathly afraid of heights (and falling) so I probably would never be into actually playing Quidditch, but I would be a fervent supporter.
So we’ve got one Seeker, four Keepers, and one Cheerleader. I’m not a sportsball expert, but I don’t think this is how it works. 😉
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I completely agree that Harry Potter exists in a “free will universe” where free will and choice are vital to the story. Absolutely. Where I think fate plays a heavier hand is in Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s coming together. While they chose to be friends and to stick by one another through the years, I think fate played a role in pushing them together at the very least because so often Harry’s survival and success throughout the series the first time of which we’ll be discussing here at the end of book 1 depends on Ron and/or Hermione and in-universe, at least, changing those two components would yield a different story.
Example: so while Harry chooses to go after Mrs Weasely and ask for help on Platform 9 3/4, who is to say that fate didn’t ensure that they would be the first magical family he ran across.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
